Henry (January – March 2007)

Henry’s time on earth was so short, yet he made a tremendous impact on those of us who cared for him during his last few days.

As a teacher living and working in a remote community in the North, I’ve had the opportunity to witness the horrible neglect of dogs while helping those that I could. Another teacher and I have developed a system of getting dogs shipped out of the community to another lady in the “south”. She sees to their medical care and finds good permanent homes for them. Henry’s story, unfortunately, ends differently.

We received a call saying that a puppy needed some help, so off we went to collect him. It was quickly obvious that Henry had some serious medical conditions that needed immediate attention. Of course, it is no simple feat to get a dog on a plane and out of the community. For Henry, this process took 3 days.

During those 3 days, Henry was in our care. He had all of the water, food, warmth, attention, and love that a little puppy could handle. During those 3 days we saw him go from lethargic and weak, to having the pleasure of seeing his little puppy personality start to shine through.

Once out of the community and in the care of our “dog lady” down south, Henry went to the vet. Sadly, the nature of his medical conditions were too much for his little body to overcome. With great sadness, the decision was made to have him put down.

We take comfort that Henry got the opportunity to experience true love and care and that he didn’t have to die a slow and painful death. For that we are thankful.